Sam Tomkins future update as Catalans Dragons star’s possible 2025 plans revealed

Sam Tomkins has not ruled out playing on again in 2025 – and admits that seeing Catalans Dragons fail to reach the Super League play-offs would be a ‘disaster’ for the club.

England’s World Cup captain made a shock retirement u-turn in July, having brought an end to his trophy-laden 15-year career following the Dragons‘ 10-2 defeat to Wigan at Old Trafford last October.

The two-time Man of Steel winner returned to the pitch to try and help his team-mates rescue a stuttering campaign, but the French side’s hopes are hanging by a thread ahead of the final round of fixtures. The Dragons sit in eighth and need defeats for Leigh and Leeds combined with a win of their own at struggling Hull if they are to salvage a spot in the top six.

And speaking exclusively to Love Rugby League, Tomkins admits Catalans have been architects of their own downfall. He said: “We are in a situation that we don’t want to be in and that is relying on others to get us in the six.

“For it to be over without even getting a shot of playing a play-off game would be a disaster but that’s the situation we have put ourselves in and there is nobody else to blame.

“We have simply not been good enough to do it ourselves and we are under no illusions that this is not ideal. But we still have a chance and we are preparing the best we can to put in a really strong performance.”

Steve McNamara’s side had lost four on the bounce prior to last weekend’s nervy 12-8 win over London which kept their faint hopes alive, but Tomkins insists there is no deep-rooted problem at the club, other than a collective season-long under-performance on the field.

“We go through a lot together,” Tomkins said. “You do a tough pre-season and then play a long year busted. You invest a lot basically to play the last month of the year, so to not even be a part of that would be a disaster. In terms of getting out what you put in, there hasn’t been a lack of effort, we just haven’t played well enough as a group.”

Sam Tomkins discusses 2025 plans after making u-turn on retirement

Tomkins crossed for a try on his return to action this summer, but then missed a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury prior to his return off the bench in defeat at Salford two weeks ago. And the 35-year-old is showing few signs of the chronic knee issues that persuaded him his time was up last year.

He said: “Personally I have felt great, I haven’t missed training and just got a slight tear in my hamstring having to play two games in five days after sitting on my couch for eight months. It was always going to be a risk that I might pull something but I got over that pretty quickly and it is good to be back amongst it.

“Physically I feel fresher than normal – usually at this time of year you are carrying bumps and bruises but I feel pretty good as I’ve hardly played.”

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Good enough to go round again next year? He laughs: “That is a conversation for the off-season…

“I have no idea to be honest. I just don’t know. Conversations haven’t started with any of that, I genuinely haven’t discussed it with anyone. As you can imagine my head has been pretty full with what is going on at Catalans so I haven’t had time to even think about 2025.”

Tomkins won’t be afforded any extra time off of course even if the Dragons do fall short, such are his broadcast commitments with Sky Sports these days that he has juggled with his return to playing. And there are no surprises in Tomkins’ tips to taste Grand Final glory again.

“Wigan are still the team to beat,” Tomkins told Love Rugby League. “They have proven that and they have all the trophies for a reason. The Hull KR game was an acid test.

“They haven’t even been playing particularly well in recent weeks but they have got players who can come up with some brilliant things. Wigan are favourites. Hull KR are a team who are playing very well as a group but Wigan on the day are tough to beat.”

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